Status Quo are an English rock band, formed as the Paladins in 1962 at Sedgehill Comprehensive School, Catford, by schoolboys Francis Rossi, Alan Lancaster, Jess Jaworski and Alan Key. The group has had a career spanning over 60 years; their current line-up includes consistent member Rossi, keyboardist Andy Bown (official member since 1981, previously an additional musician with the band since 1976), bassist John "Rhino" Edwards (since 1985), drummer Leon Cave (since 2013) and rhythm guitarist Richie Malone (since 2016).

History 1962–1970 The group that became Status Quo was formed in 1962 as the Paladins. The members met while playing together in the school orchestra at Sedgehill Comprehensive School in Catford, London, and consisted of Francis Rossi on guitar and lead vocals, Alan Lancaster on bass, Jess Jaworski on keyboards and Alan Key on drums. According to Rossi, the group was Key's idea, and they practiced in Jaworski's bedroom, playing covers such as the Shadows' version of Jerry Lordan's "Apache, "Wake Up Little Susie" by the Everly Brothers and the Beatles' "Love Me Do". Key was replaced by air cadets drummer John Coghlan in 1963, although Rossi maintains that Key had left at an earlier time to get married, and was replaced by a short-lived drummer named either "Barry" or "Tony", who was ousted by the band in favour of Coghlan, whom they preferred as a drummer. Around this same time, the band changed their name to the Spectres.

At the beginning of 1965, after finishing school, Jaworski left the group to seek employment outside of the music industry. Pat Barlow, the band's manager at the time, replaced Jaworski with keyboardist Roy Lynes. While playing a stint at Butlin's Holiday Camp in Minehead in mid-1965, the band formed a friendship with guitarist Rick Parfitt, then known as Ricky Harrison, who was performing with a cabaret trio called the Highlights. In 1967, the Spectres changed their name to Traffic Jam. They initially wanted to call themselves Traffic, but were unable to due to a dispute with Steve Winwood who had also registered the name for his own group.

Parfitt joined the band in August 1967. At this point, the group changed its name again, to Status Quo. The Rossi-Lancaster-Coghlan-Lynes-Parfitt line-up saw the group's first charting single in "Pictures of Matchstick Men" which appeared on their first album Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo (both 1968). This line-up released two more albums: Spare Parts (1969) and Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon (1970), as well as the non-album single "Down the Dustpipe" (1970), which reached number 12 in the UK charts. Starting in 1969, the band's road manager and Rossi's songwriting partner Bob Young would occasionally play harmonica with the band both on stage and in the studio.

1970–1981, 2013–2014: "The Frantic Four" In 1970, Lynes left the band. In his 2019 autobiography, Rossi states that Lynes had decided to get married; that they were "on [their] way to a gig in Aberdeen when he jumped ship somewhere around Stoke-on-Trent". The band continued as a four-piece without a keyboardist, though they occasionally used session keyboardists in the studio, one of whom was Andy Bown, formerly of the Herd. In 1976, Bown also began playing live with the band, becoming their permanent touring/session keyboardist, though he was not made an official member during this period. Bob Young continued to occasionally play harmonica with the band until he ceased to be their road manager in 1979. He was jokingly referred to as Status Quo's "unofficial fifth member" during this era.

The four-man line-up's first release was the single "In My Chair" in late 1970, which reached number 21 in the UK, with the first album from this line-up, Dog of Two Head, following in 1971. Ten more studio albums followed, the last being 1981's Never Too Late. They also released a UK top-10 charting non-album single "The Wild Side of Life" in 1976, and a live album in 1977. This line-up is considered to be the band's "classic" line-up by many fans, having overseen the release of many of their early hits such as "Caroline", "Down Down", "Rockin' All Over the World" and "Whatever You Want". Due to its emphasis on hard rock as opposed to the psychedelic direction of the '60s and the pop rock records of the group's future, this line-up is often referred to as "the Frantic Four".

32 years after it ended, the popularity of the "Frantic Four" line-up saw Rossi, Lancaster, Coghlan and Parfitt (as well as Young on harmonica) reuniting for a series of shows in 2013 and 14, running simultaneously with the present Quo line-up at the time. Four live albums came from these tours: The Frantic Four Reunion – Live at the O2 Academy Glasgow, The Frantic Four Reunion – Live at Hammersmith Apollo, The Frantic Four Reunion – Live at Wembley Arena (all 2013) and The Frantic Four's Final Fling – Live at the Dublin O2 Arena (2014).

1981–1985

In 1981, Coghlan infamously quit the band after destroying his drum kit during a recording session for the 1+9+8+2 album, bringing an end to the "Frantic Four" line-up. He was replaced by Pete Kircher of Honeybus fame, while keyboardist Andy Bown was promoted to being an official member.

In 1982, this line-up completed the 1+9+8+2 album and released the live album Live at the N.E.C. (originally as part of a box set titled From the Makers of... and re-released separately in 1984), with 1983 bringing another studio album entitled Back to Back, containing the Rossi/Frost single "Marguerita Time" whose pop rock direction was a point of contention for both fans of the band and Lancaster (Lancaster stating "Nobody but Francis [Rossi] wanted to record it[...] All it did was advertise that we were a bunch of nerds."). In 1984, the single "The Wanderer" gave the band a number 7 UK chart placement, with the Rossi-Lancaster-Parfitt-Kircher-Bown line-up embarking on the "End of the Road Tour" - intended as a farewell tour due to tensions within the group. However, the group was persuaded to reformed to open Bob Geldof and Midge Ure's Live Aid concert in 1985. The success of the concert saw demand for Status Quo to reform. Due to tensions, Rossi agreed on the condition that Lancaster did not return, leading to a legal battle over the Status Quo name, which Rossi and Parfitt won. Kircher also did not return.

1985–2016

Rossi, Parfitt and Bown reformed the group with bassist John "Rhino" Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich, who had both been working with Parfitt on a never-released solo album entitled Recorded Delivery. Rossi, Parfitt, Bown, Edwards and Rich would release eight studio albums together, starting with In the Army Now (1986) and ending with Famous in the Last Century (2000), as well as the live album Live Alive Quo (1992).

In April 2000, Rich retired from the group after 15 years citing family commitments, and was replaced with Matt Letley. With Letley, the group released six studio albums starting with Heavy Traffic (2002) and ending with Bula Quo! (2013), the latter being a soundtrack album for the feature film of the same name, an adventure comedy starring Rossi and Parfitt. A live album, Pictures – Live at Montreux, was also released in 2009. Letley, in turn, announced his own retirement after 13 years in 2013, and was replaced by their current drummer Leon Cave. During 2000–2001, Bown took a hiatus from the band for personal reasons, and his place was covered by Paul Hirsh of Voyager, though Bown remained an official member during this period.

With Cave, the group released their first acoustic album, Aquostic – Stripped Bare in 2014, as well as a live acoustic album, Aquostic – Live at the Roundhouse (2015). In 2016 they released a second acoustic studio album Aquostic II – That's a Fact!.

After a concert in Antalya, Turkey on 14 June 2016, Parfitt suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised, and retired from touring. For the remainder of the then-ongoing "Last of the Electrics" tour, Parfitt was replaced by Edwards' son, Freddie, except for dates in July 2015 in Edinburgh and Belgium, Irish guitarist Richie Malone filled in for Parfitt. Malone was a fan of the band, and Parfitt in particular, and had met them backstage a number of times.

2016–present Parfitt died on 24 December 2016, bringing an end to an almost 50-year partnership between himself and Rossi. Malone was announced as Parfitt's permanent replacement on the band's website, and toured with them for the remainder of their "Last of the Electrics" tour. The Rossi-Bown-Edwards-Cave-Malone line-up has thus far released three live albums, The Last Night of the Electrics (2017), Down Down & Dignified at the Royal Albert Hall (2018) and Down Down & Dirty at Wacken (2018), and one studio album Backbone (2019).

Members

Current members ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsFrancis Rossi1962–presentall releasesAndy Bown1981–present John "Rhino" Edwards1985–presentall releases from In the Army Now (1986) onwards except the 2013–2014 "Frantic Four" reunion live albumsLeon Cave2013–presentall releases from Aquostic – Stripped Bare (2014) onwardsRichie Malone2016–present all releases from The Last Night of the Electrics (2017) onwards

Former members ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsAlan Lancaster1962–1985 all releases up to Back to Back (1983) and the 2013–2014 "Frantic Four" reunion live albumsJess Jaworski1962–1965 noneAlan Key1962–1963John Coghlan1963–1981 all releases up to Never Too Late (1981) and the 2013–2014 "Frantic Four" reunion live albumsRoy Lynes1965–1970all releases up to Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon (1970)Rick Parfitt1967–2016 all releases up to Aquostic II – That's a Fact! (2016)Pete Kircher1981–1985all releases from 1+9+8+2 (1982) to Back to Back (1983)Jeff Rich1985–2000all releases from In the Army Now (1986) to Famous in the Last Century (2000)Matt Letley2000–2013all releases from Heavy Traffic (2002) to Bula Quo! (2013)

Touring musicians ImageNameYearsInstrumentsTours, notesBob Youngharmonica Young was the band's road manager and Rossi's songwriting partner during 1968–1979. Starting in 1969, he often joined the band on stage and in the studio, playing harmonica on certain songs. Sometimes referred to as "Status Quo's unofficial fifth member" during the "Frantic Four" era, he guested with the band at a few shows in 1984, before re-establishing his writing partnership with Rossi in 2002 and playing live with the band again during the 2013–2014 "Frantic Four" reunion tours.John Miles1999Miles replaced keyboardist Andy Bown for the band's last few gigs of 1999, at the "Night of the Proms" shows in Germany.Paul HirshFollowing the passing of his wife, Bown took a break from touring during 2000–2001. Hirsh played keyboards in his place, and later played piano at the 2017 "Aquostic" acoustic concerts.Freddie Edwards2014–2016rhythm guitarEdwards, son of the band's bassist John "Rhino" Edwards, played back-up rhythm guitar at the band's "Aquostic" acoustic concerts during 2014–2016. Along with Richie Malone, Edwards also substituted for Parfitt several times during 2015. Geraint Watkins 2014–2017Joined the band at "Aquostic" acoustic shows during 2014–2017Amy Smithbacking vocalsHannah RickardLucy WilkinsviolinHoward GottNatalia BonnerAlison DodsSophie Sirota violaSarah WilsoncelloMartin Ditcham percussionRalf Oehmichen2017rhythm guitarChloe Gardnerbacking vocals

Timeline Thinner lines indicate non-official member status as a guest or touring musician.

Lineups PeriodMembersReleasesOctober 1962 – March 1963Francis Rossi – vocals, guitar Alan Lancaster – bass, vocals Jess Jaworski – keyboards, vocals Alan Key – drums, percussionnoneMarch 1963 – January 1965 Francis Rossi – vocals, guitar Alan Lancaster – bass, vocals Jess Jaworski – keyboards, vocals John Coghlan – drums, percussionJanuary 1965 – August 1967 Francis Rossi – vocals, guitar Alan Lancaster – bass, vocals John Coghlan – drums, percussion